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Saturday, January 12, 2013

Who Was Your Ancestral Doctor?

Link courtesy of: http://public-domain.zorger.com

I have
a cousin in Scotland, who contacted me because of this blog.
When she first contacted me, we weren’t cousins, but we quickly became
friends looking to be cousins. She still lives in the town that our
ancestors came from in Scotland and, due to her research, now we are cousins,
too. When my dad passed away, she sent me sweet
notes and links and pictures of the town in Scotland almost every day. It
helped tremendously- more than she will know. A couple of weeks ago she
sent me the link below. It’s a website dedicated to the town
of Carluke, Scotland. This link in particular is about the town
doctor, who also was a geologist and paleontologist.

Since our Connor family
lived in Carluke during the time of the doctor, it’s rather likely
that he called on them. While there are no records of our direct coal
mining family’s daily doings, it sure is fun to read about the time and the
town from which they came. In reading about Dr. Daniel Reid Rankin
(born 1805, died 1882), I enjoyed thinking that our Connors knew him and
wondering what their opinions were of the wonderfully strange old fellow.

Dr. Rankin was
described as humble, honest, brilliant and unfashionable. He
didn’t like to be the center of attention, never even bothering to pick up
awards or have his name on a book he authored. One time, he had a “hemorrhage”
over being asked to instruct a class. He lived in a small run-down
thatched cottage at the corner of Market Place that is now the health center
of Carluke. He began his carrier intending to be a lawyer, but
quickly changed to the study of medicine, obtaining his degree in 1829.

Handsome with long
red hair, big bright blue eyes and an athletic frame, he was tall and wore
tight-fitting coat with a flowing skirt, tight knee pants and riding boots.
Often, he wore a silk hat. Dr. Rankin wasn’t religious- in fact, he
was openly not religious. He loved to dance and loved to (yes, you are reading
this right) stand on his head. While it’s said that he lacked
ambition, from reading about him, I think it’s more correct to say that he
longed for learning, but not necessarily documenting that learning. He
didn’t care for formalities and, when faced with something he disagreed
with, (here it comes…) he’d stand on his head.

Did our ancestors ever
witness his head-standing? Were they shocked and tsssking or
did they applaud and laugh, egging him on? When Dr. Rankin came for a
house call, he would soar his horse right over the wall into your
garden and soar back out the same way. He would walk right
into your house- no knocking. If you weren’t home, he’d move all your
chairs to the middle of the room and tell you later that you weren’t home so he
left his calling card. Did our Connors every have their furniture
“Rankin-ized”?

He had a great sense of
humor, teasing those praying, headed to church, or gossiping about their
neighbors. In addition to a sense of humor, he also apparently had a
live crocodile as a pet. A pet that would escape and terrorize the
neighborhood. Did the crocodile ever bug our ancestors? Did
they shoo it with a broomstick? Did he ever tease our ancestors
about their gossip or anything at all?

As a doctor, he had the
foresight to hate smoking and excess drinking. He also didn’t care about
money, often not billing at all even for the wealthy in town. If they
remembered and insisted, he’d ask for some produce and have it delivered to a
poor patient of his. Did our really great grandparents ever get a basket of
fruit? Did they ever give one?

His collection of
fossils sounds like it was better than any others of the time. It truly sounds
like the famous geologists of the time, including Charles Darwin, were
literally drooling over his collection. Darwin’s friend Dr. Huxley (“I’d
rather be descendent from an ape than a bishop!”) actually came
to Carluke to see the fossils, but arrived too late and then got food
poisoning and never did see them. Did our
great great great greatgrandparents ever see those fossils?

Doctor Daniel Reid
Rankin died in March 21, 1882 and had strict instructions that it was to
have no ceremony and no headstone (although no one listened to that
part and they did erect a headstone). There is a granite
plaque in Rankin Square with fossils carved into it in his honor. I hope
to see it one day. Maybe stand on my head next to it.